Google desperate to avoid having to divest its search business
The Justice Department has been trying to break Alphabet unit Google into pieces forcing the company to spin off its Search unit and possibly its advertising division into separate companies. Last August, Google was found to be a monopoly by Judge Amit Mehta after a 10-week trial in DC District Court. The judge found that Google violated section 2 of the Sherman Act making it difficult for competitors to compete in the search market.
During the trial, Google said that Apple gets a 36% cut of ad revenue generated by Google Search on Safari. Apple's Eddy Cue, Vice President of Services, also testified that in 2022, Apple received $20 billion from Google to be the default search engine for Safari. Judge Mehta criticized these payments noting that they were large enough to seriously restrict the number of companies that could compete with Google to be Safari's default search engine.
For its part, Google has defended its enormous market share in search by stating it is a superior product favored by consumers. Google also said that its search platform should not be compared with websites that contain a search tool that don't search the web.
Google Search on the iPhone. | Image credit-PhoneArena
Besides attacking Google's Search business, the DOJ is also going after Google's advertising business which delivers targeted ads based on a person's search queries, browsing history, and demographics. The DOJ has already mentioned some actions that Google might be forced to take to settle the Search monopoly such as divesting the Chrome Web browser and ending the huge payments it makes to be the default search engine on devices like the iPhone.
"We routinely meet with regulators, including with the DOJ to discuss this case. As we've publicly said, we're concerned the current proposals would harm the American economy and national security."-Google spokesman
This April, another trial will be held to determine which remedies are appropriate while a final ruling will be made in August. According to a person familiar with the situation Google met with members of the government last week determined to get them to stop pushing a spin off of the search unit as a way for Google to settle the case.
President Donald Trump is supposedly looking to reduce the number of antitrust cases that the DOJ pursued when Joe Biden was the president. Some industry experts believe that the Google Search antitrust case is one that President Trump might personally get involved in.
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